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U-Haul Purchases Phoenix’s 3rd Tallest Skyscraper, Reveals Plans for 20 E. Thomas Road

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U-Haul Purchases Phoenix’s 3rd Tallest Skyscraper, Reveals Plans for 20 E. Thomas Road
News

News

U-Haul Purchases Phoenix’s 3rd Tallest Skyscraper, Reveals Plans for 20 E. Thomas Road

2024-12-07 03:47 Last Updated At:03:50

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 6, 2024--

U-Haul ® Holding Company has acquired one of Arizona’s largest skyscrapers with the intention of making 20 E. Thomas Road in Midtown Phoenix the new headquarters for U-Haul International and other subsidiaries of the industry-leading organization.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241206494838/en/

Purchase of The U-Haul Tower, as it will now be known, was finalized on Dec. 6.

The 548,938-square-foot building reaches 25 floors and 397 feet, making it the tallest high-rise outside of Downtown Phoenix (trailing only the Chase ® Tower and U.S. Bank ® Center in the state). Previously coined the CenturyLink ® Tower, The U-Haul Tower was built in 1989.

While plans call for The U-Haul Tower to become the new anchor of the U-Haul Midtown Campus, a thoughtfully planned transition of U-Haul field-support teams to 20 E. Thomas from 2727 N. Central Ave. (one block away) is expected to take place over the next 24 months.

U-Haul, one of Phoenix’s leading employers, has 1,600 Team Members based at its Midtown Campus and more than 34,000 Team Members across its North American network. Find U-Haul careers at uhauljobs.com.

“Our eventual move to the tallest building in Midtown Phoenix is both symbolic and substantive. It reflects the position our team has built as an industry and community leader over the past eight decades,” stated Sam Shoen, Vice Chair of U-Haul Holding Company. “For the past 57 years, U-Haul has been headquartered in Midtown Phoenix. As we look out to the decades to come, The U-Haul Tower will be home to the premier workforce in the Valley.”

U-Haul has been based in Phoenix since 1967, when it relocated from Portland and moved into the distinctive Central Towers, two symmetrical 11-story offices (built in 1959). In 1970, U-Haul opened its Technical Center on South Priest Drive in Tempe, where it continues to research, design, engineer, test and assemble its famous orange trailers, truck boxes, U-Box ® portable containers, and other products.

The U-Haul Midtown Campus has grown extensively during the last decade and includes numerous properties lining Roanoke Avenue between Central and 3rd Street. Among those is the 54,208-square-foot Shoen Family Conference and Fitness Center, the country’s premier corporate wellness center and a campus showpiece since 2021. Its opening reaffirmed the Company’s commitment to its Team Members and its long-term investment in the Midtown community.

“I vividly recall when my father relocated U-Haul to Phoenix in 1967,” stated Joe Shoen, Chairman of U-Haul Holding Company. “While our operation was smaller then, our team had a long-term vision for the future. Today, we remain a family-owned and -operated company. This acquisition will help us build on our efficiency at the home office so that we can better support our field teams serving the mobility and storage needs of North America.”

U-Haul services millions of customers annually at 23,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada, with rental sites in every state and province, and offers more than 1 million rentable self-storage units at 2,334 owned-and-operated stores.

Joe Shoen has led the Company’s growth and evolution since 1986. U-Haul was founded by his parents, WWII Navy veteran L.S. Shoen and Anna Mary Carty Shoen, in 1945 in Ridgefield, Wash.

The iconic do-it-yourself moving and self-storage company will mark 80 years of meeting the residential mobility needs of Americans in 2025.

Kidder Mathews broker Ryan Eustice represented the buyer, and Cushman & Wakefield brokers Eric Wichterman, Chris Toci and Mike Coover represented the seller in this transaction.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The U-Haul app makes it easy for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and -return options on their smartphones with our patented Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 192,000 trucks, 138,700 trailers and 39,500 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 1,024,000 rentable units and 88.5 million square feet of self-storage space at Company-owned and -managed facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. Get the U-Haul app from theApp StoreorGoogle Play.

U-Haul has acquired the 20 E. Thomas Road skyscraper in Midtown Phoenix, which will serve as the Company's headquarters. Pictured in front of the new U-Haul Tower are (L-R): Stuart Shoen, Royal Shoen, U-Haul Chairman Joe Shoen, and Sam Shoen. (Photo: Business Wire)

U-Haul has acquired the 20 E. Thomas Road skyscraper in Midtown Phoenix, which will serve as the Company's headquarters. Pictured in front of the new U-Haul Tower are (L-R): Stuart Shoen, Royal Shoen, U-Haul Chairman Joe Shoen, and Sam Shoen. (Photo: Business Wire)

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Snow, ice and strong winds make for dangerous conditions in upper Midwest

2024-12-20 07:37 Last Updated At:07:41

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A fast-moving winter storm brought snow, ice, strong winds and bitter cold to much of the upper Midwest, snarling traffic in the Twin Cities and forcing North Dakota officials to shut down an interstate highway.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for large areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, where some interstates were snow-covered and treacherous. Several fender-benders and slide-offs were reported, some causing injuries. There were no immediate reports of deaths.

Up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of snow were possible in Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, where Thursday morning rush hour slowed to a crawl and several accidents were reported as snowfall intensified.

North Dakota was getting the worst of it. Blustery winds of up to 50 mph (80 kilometers per hour) were common Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Snowfall totals were mostly under 6 inches (15 centimeters) — not a lot by North Dakota standards, but enough to make roads dangerous.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol says 15 people were injured early Thursday when a truck tried to stop at an intersection in the state’s southwest corner but slid on an icy road, causing a crash with a van and an SUV. The crash happened amid high winds, blowing snow and sleet near Reeder, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southwest of Bismarck. Apart from the drivers, those injured were young, ranging in age from 8 to 18. Five of the injuries were serious, according to the highway patrol.

Freezing rain only added to the slipperiness. The North Dakota Highway Patrol issued a “no travel advisory” urging motorists to stay off the roads. That wasn’t an option for large vehicles in one corner of the state: “No Oversize loads in the Northwest Region until further notice,” the patrol posted on Facebook.

A 50-mile (80-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 94 in North Dakota, starting at the Montana state line, was closed for about 90 minutes Thursday morning when snow and ice made the road virtually impassable, and eventually blocked by trucks.

“It’s a section of the Badlands that goes through that area, so there’s quite a few hills,” highway patrol Sgt. Coby Hubble said. “We had commercial motor vehicles that could not pass through that area and became stuck.”

Snowfall of 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 centimeters) was expected in parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Minnesota forecasters called for gusty winds throughout the day, creating the potential for whiteout conditions.

Planes were grounded for a time Thursday morning at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport because of snow and ice. The airport's website said that as of early afternoon, 63 arriving flights were delayed and 89 departures were delayed.

Phil Helfrich was fueling up his car in windy and largely barren Bismarck in anticipation of a trip to Denver on Friday to see his grandchildren. The weather, he said, wouldn't stop him, noting that his car was equipped with snow tires. He also packed a winter survival kit.

“I’m excited and my grandboys are excited,” Helfrich said.

In some ways, the snow was overdue. Until this week, less than 3 inches (8 centimeters) of snow had fallen in the Twin Cities, which typically gets over a foot (30 centimeters) of snow by mid-December.

Whether the snow sticks around long enough for a white Christmas is uncertain. The forecast through the holiday is snow-free for most of the upper Midwest, with temperatures rising above freezing early next week.

Phil Helfrich fuels up his vehicle on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D., as blustery winter weather bore down. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Phil Helfrich fuels up his vehicle on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D., as blustery winter weather bore down. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

A snowplow clears a street on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

A snowplow clears a street on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

A convenience store's ice storage is a sign of the times on a blustery winter day in Bismarck, N.D., on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

A convenience store's ice storage is a sign of the times on a blustery winter day in Bismarck, N.D., on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Jim Thom clears his driveway of snow with a snowblower on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Jim Thom clears his driveway of snow with a snowblower on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

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